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 The Border Utilities sponsored Solway Sharks travelled up to
Kirkcaldy on Sunday night for the second leg of their Scottish
Premier Hockey League play-off semi-final against the Fife
Flyers with the tie delicately balanced at three goals apiece
after the previous nights first leg at the Ice Bowl.
The visiting
support were hoping for an early breakthrough when a penalty
call on Fleming for tripping after four and a half minutes gave
the Sharks a chance to exert pressure on the home side with the
first powerplay of the match. However, it was the home support
who were on their feet celebrating when Wilson sent Steven King
up centre-ice and he brought the puck towards the Solway goal
before beating Dewar Anderson from close range. The middle of
the period was littered with minor penalties as referee Allsopp
seemed to blow for every little indiscretion rather than let the
game flow. With ninety seconds left in the session the Sharks
gained another powerplay when Bell was called for elbowing on
the boards behind the Sharks goal. However, Solway lost
possession from the face-off and McAlpine took the puck around
the net before setting up Steven King for his second
short-handed goal of the night.
 Solway began the
second period with a five on three powerplay as Wands had joined
Bell in the penalty box right on the stroke of the first
interval when he was penalised for interference. If Solway were
to have any real hope of mounting a serious challenge they
needed to score early but, despite concerted effort, they
couldn’t make any real inroads into the solid Fife defence. Four
minutes into the period a John Downes shot from the blueline was
well saved by Daly, the rebound fell to Robbie Brown six yards
from goal and he beat one defender but could only watch as his
wrist shot cannoned off the keepers left hand post. Two minutes
later Downes robbed a Fife forward before progressing up the ice
and firing in a long range shot that Daly smothered at the
second attempt as Sharks enjoyed their best spell of the match.
Just before the midway point in the match the Sharks got a
warning when Mitchell cut in from the right and fired in a shot
that deflected to safety from the visitors crossbar. But the
reprieve was short-lived as the Flyers took a stranglehold on
the match seconds later. A loose pass saw Steven King collect
possession on the right-hand boards, he slipped a pass to
Glasgow who out paced a Sharks defender before lifting his shot
over Anderson. A minute later Wilson found Lynch on the right
wing, he out paced the defence before holding for support to
arrive in the centre and his pass gave Beattie an easy finish.
Fife could have extended their lead with six minutes to go in
the session when Lynch found himself in clear ice with just the
keeper to beat, he took the puck in close before trying to go
around Dewar Anderson but the netminder stood firm and made a
fine save. However, the Flyers did make it five before the
second break when Lynch scored a tap-in from a yard out after a
period of concerted pressure on yet another powerplay.
 With the pressure
now off the favourites, Fife passed the puck around freely after
the final intermission and the Sharks were left chasing shadows
at times as missed fore-checks allowed the Flyers to skate at
will. It was no real surprise when Lynch extended their lead
with an excellent finish on the six minute mark after being set
free by Derek King. Seven minutes from time Glasgow and McIntyre
combined in the Sharks “D” to set up Mitchell who fired home
from six yards out. Scott McMeeken who had replaced Dewar
Anderson just after the second interval, saved with his pads,
but the force of the shot saw the puck squirm through a gap and
only just cross the goal line. Wilson completed the rout with
three minutes left when he made it eight-nil with a neat
back-handed flick-shot after being set up by Wands.
The Sharks will
need to regroup before they face Fife at Kirkcaldy again this
coming weekend in the Northern League play-off’s. However, the
Flyers may well be suffering from fatigue by then as they face
the Dundee Texol Stars in a two-legged midweek SPHL play-off
final. If the Sharks can sustain the commitment and intensity
they showed on Saturday night and follow through on their checks
to ensure that Fife do not have the space to skate freely at
them, then there is every chance that they can overcome the odds
and beat the Flyers at last in a one-off match. Should they do
so and progress to the final they would face either the Whitley
Warriors or the Dundee Texol Stars on Sunday evening.
The views and statistics in
this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the Solway Sharks.
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